The week before the Brooklyn Half I had a strange sudden illness. While getting the family ready for the day I had chest pain. It wasn’t a sharp pain. It was a sensation I had never felt before and was associated with a feeling of vertigo. I’d call it pressure with a side of nausea.
Not wanting to ignore anything resembling chest pain I made a doctor’s appointment. I’m a member of One Medical and was able to book an appoint with a nurse practitioner later that morning. I didn’t think I was having a heart attack but I wanted to be sure. The thought of my kids growing up alone spurred me into action.
Immediately they called me and emailed me out of concern that I was having a heart attack.
I ignored them. Not sure thats the best thing to do but I didn’t seem to be dropping dead.
When I arrived I was quickly taken. The Nurse was concerned. Apparently often people arrive with complaints of chest pains and leave in an ambulance. The word’s “Chest Pain” causes alarms to go off in thier system.
The examination was pretty standard. My vitals were taken. I was asked to describe the sensation that I felt. I was asked about my family history. The one non-standard thing was he took and EKG.
Actually… he had the EKG machine ready when I walked in. Apparently, everything on the EKG machine looked normal except my resting heart rate; 54 beats a minute. However, given all the running I’ve done over the last two decades that wasn’t completely out of place.
The big thing that I learned was in a heart attack most of the time the pain is great and is shooting down the left side of your body. In my case, what I experienced was most likely some type of gas. In fact, in the Brooklyn Half it became very clear that I was experiencing gas.
The Practitioner’s recommendation was to take some Tums and take it easy. I did just that, dialing back my running until the Brooklyn half. I did however go straight back to work.
Despite not having anything serious to deal with, I would encourage everyone to go to the doctor anytime you think you could have a condition that would affect your long term health. Especially a heart attack. One of the reasons we run its to maintain and improve health so that we call can live long and fulfilling lives. To do that we need to understand that we are mortal and can sick.